:r DEATH AT THE .' END. j
Wanld I were dead and lying in my gnn, '
At res from fretting doubts and carting cares!
Be kind, O Heaven, and listen to my prayers;
rant me toe only favor that I crave
Sx feet by three of earth to hide my dust.
1 aak no tombstone or memorial bust;
1 aak tor death: what is beyond I'll brave.
) of good or erQ have I wrought:
No happiness or pleasure have I kaown '
Hut it bath been with sorrow intersown;
-All hath slipt from my grojp that 1 most sought.
My Ufa, though short in years, is Ions in grief;
' Night follows day, but brings me no relief.
Aad passing years nave only sorrow brought
Tbers is one goal to which our courses tend;
The way lies over mountains, torrents, plains.
Through velvet pastures and quiet country
lanes.'
Ibaorat the pleasant scenes enjoyment lend.
While others weary toil up rocky slopes
Dejectedly, and almost void of hopes.
Ikjt one fate waits for all Death at the End.
Chambers1 Journal
VAN BIBBER'S WAGER
Mr. Van Bibber and the other men of
fcia particular set were grouped around
Hbm club window after luncheon, or
"breakfast, as it happened to be, when
Van Bibber said he thought seriously of
entering upon a career of crime. Van
Bibber was given to making disturbing
.statements of this sort, which required
one to think, evea if one did not reply to
. -tfaem, and the other men rather wished
fee would not.
"For instance," said young Van Bib
ber, "I went to a dance last night, and
the room where you were to put your
hmt was filled with old silver, little bits
of it snuff boxes and. spectacle cases
and bonbon boxes and buckles and
girdles. The chap had made a collec
tion of " them, and had them ' all lying
Around loose. I had a good mind to fill
my overcoat with half, of 'em, and then
1 thought it would be much more fun to
fill every other man's pockets, and wait
askI see the row, but some one came in.
And 1 couldn't do it. Now, there "are
these teas and receptions and days and
jlU that sort of thing that women go to.
Why shouldn't 1 start out some after
soon and sweep the places bare, and
melt the silver down and get rich? 1
anight become a sort of "Jack the Rip
per' or 'Louis the Lifter.' I'll bet," ex
claimed Van Bibber, becoming more in
terested in his idea, '"that lean go out
. this afternoon and bring back more
' than five hundred dollars' worth of edl
Ter and bric-a-brac, and I'll do it, too,
. if Any of you have any sporting blood."
There was no question as to the men
feaving sporting blood. They jumped at
the chance. Van Bibber found not the
- least difficulty in dividing up his wager
Among them all
"But wait, said Travers; "how do
-we know that Van Bibber won't fix it
-with the people in the house? Even- if
bis friends did see him . handling . the
bric-a-brac or even if he put a fork down
inn coat sleeve, they'd not say anything.
They'd think he was joking. Or he may
let them into it beforehand."
"Well, 1 must say 1 appreciate your
confidence,'' growled Van Bibber; "111
play fair, of course, and I'll tell, yon
-' what I'll do; to make sure, IH only go
bouses where they don't know me.
ask Til bring back spoons marked with
the people's initials."
This recklessness delighted his friends.
"Yon are a sport. Van Bibber," they
ried with admiration, "and youll be in
3il before 5 o'clock,"
The servant brought them a society
paper that made a feature of printing the
announcements of coming social events
and Van Bibber carefully selected the
names of five estimable ladies who were
.giving receptions that afternoon, and
who were making a desperate fight to
get Into society, as the proper people to
rob. At 4 he ordered a haneom, put his
last inside his hat, placed a fresh chrys
anthemum in his coat, and started smil
ingly forth on his career of crime. His
friends watched him from the window
. with keen delight and with much excite-
- merit. ...
"Now, then," said Travers promptly
And decidedly, "the thing for us to do is
to send a detective after him and have
him arrested."
"Exactly." said the rest.
Mr. Van Bibber alighted first at a
very handsome brown stone house, just
a few doors off the avenue on Forty
third street. There was an awning over
the door, and a line of carriages oo either
' side of the street. The name of the lady
who was paying for this he discovered,
' by referring to his slip, to be Nobles.
..The man saw him through the door and
opened it, saying, "Third floor,- front."
Mr. Van Bibber pushed his way
through the crowd of women and girls
- and old men and pots of chrysanthe
mums, and threw his overcoat in a cor
ner. There was no one in the room.
And Van Bibber, while adjusting his
. cravat, cast a wandering eye over the
dressing table. - It was littered with sil
ver toilet articles.' He picked some of
. these up and bit them,' in a most pro-
" Sessional manner. "Plated," he re
marked, with some disgust: "lady prob
ably gets her silver, from a caterer.
Hardly worth while to try down stairs.
CJmess IT1 move on to next place."
He picked up his overcoat and hat
again, and went ont without having
fazed upon Mrs. ' Nobles. The next
place was on the avenue itself, and was
very crowded. Van Bibber rushed his
way slowly up stairs to the second floor,
and, without a moment's hesitation.
. gathered up four silver . photograph
frames, a complete manicure set of sil
' ver, a gold watch, which hung in a slip
per at the side of a bed, and a pair of sil
ver backed, hair brushes. He placed
' theae carefully in his overcoat, and went
down stairs in a stately and dignified
manner. He avoided the iirst uoor
where he guessed the hostess was uta
, tioned, and made his way toward the
rear. There was a terrible crush, and
yet he saw no one he knew.
In the rear room there was a long
- table overloaded with things to eat. ':' He
gathered up three ? four spoons, one at a
time, after examiniug them carefully, and
stored them away back of a bit of china
on a sideboard, then he went back after
more spoons. Nobody paid any atten
tion to him; and he paid no attention to
any one else. Ha carried a plate with
some salad on it in his hand. and. pich-i
at this daintily with the spoons as ho
transferred them from the table -to the
sideboard. When he had a dozen he
covered them with his handkerchief and
slipped them into his coattail pocket.
Then he put on his greatcoat, and went
out as calmly as he had come in. He
found the stolen articles somewhat
heavy, so as soon as he was in the han
som he took them out and put them
under the seat..
Mrs. Charles T. Van Dyke was the
name of the hostess at the next place.
Van Bibber shot quickly up stairs and
opened two or three bureau drawers, a
writing desk and a secretary, but found
nothing of value. There was an immense
silver water pitcher in one corner with
two goblets, which he thought of tak
ing, but he could think of no way of
getting it out unobserved unless he low
ered it down the elevator shaft with a
rope. In the dining room, however, the
spoons were undisturbed as yet, and lay
in cozy little rows on the white cloth.
Van Bibber placed a dozen of these in
each of his trousers pockets and told the
servants as he turned from the tea urn,
over . which he had been . bending, that
he would take two lumps and lemon. .
, A large, heavily mustached stranger,
with a cup in his hand, nodded pleasant
ly to Van Bibber, and asked him, with
a glance at the tea, if r he had got what
he wanted. : .
"Yes, thank you," said Van Bibber
cheerfully. "I think I have." , : -
At the next place he was somewhat
surprised to see the same stranger drink
ing more tea and apparently watching
him. But Van Bibber put this down to
the fact that he was unduly suspicious,
and that his imagination was excited.
He was just going out without having
made any seizures, when a fat, pompous
gentleman, who he was sure must be
the. host, took pity on his apparently
neglected condition and said: "I see you
are looking over my bric-a-brac sir. It
is not much of a collection, and I have
not had time lately to give it the atten
tion it needs." Then he proceeded, at
great length and with evident satisfac
tion to himself, to describe each separate
piece of crockery on the walL Van Bib
ber was greatly bored, but he was too
polite to say so, and was rewarded when
the gentleman said, "This piece of Sat
suma cost me five hundred dollars."
Van Bibber kept his' eye on the plate,
and, when his host turned to greet a
new arrival, slipped it into his coattail
pocket and bowed himself out. .
He placed it under the seat of the han
som very carefully, and drove on to the
next place quite assured that he had
won hi3 bet, but anxious to settle it
without a question or doubt. He did
not see the stranger with the heavy mus
tache pass him in a close cab and dart
into the house to which he was' going
just a minute before him. Van Bibber
elbowed his way, with many apologies,
to the third floor.' There was a dressing
table covered with silver trifles, and Van
Bibber smiled complacently.
There was. a bed in the room, and he
could see this as he looked in the mirror.
But he could not see under the bed. His
overcoat -was on a chair, and he made
several tripe to it and filled the pockets
with silver backed brushes and combs.
But on the third of these trips his heart
stood still, for out from under the bed
came the big stranger with the heavy
mustache. He came very leisurely and
determinedly. "Don't make a row," he
said; "you're under arrest."
. At that moment two young men came
iniv the room, pulling off their over
coats. - -
"Help!" screamed Van Bibber; "lookl"
he shouted, pointing at the detective.
"There's a eneak thief under the bed."
Then he fell on the officer's head just as
relentlessly as he would have dropped
on a football, and banged his nose into
the carpet and sat on his shoulders. The
two young men got out of their coats
much more quickly than they had in
tended doing and fell with their knees
on each of the detective's . arms, and
while they thus pinned him to the floor
they punched him vigorously in the ribs
and yelled. '
"Look at thisr said Van Bibber,
catching up his overcoat by the tail and
spilling all the silver over the floor.
"Look at what he had stored awayt
Hold him, will you? while. I get . a po
liceman." . ,
Every one was running up the front
stairs, so he could not go down that way,
and so ran to the back and went down
the kitchen stairs and on into the din
ing room, whence all the waiters had
fled. He was quite unobserved in the
confusion, and accordingly took time to
fill his pockets with spoons and forks of
heavy silver. Then he walked out
through the excited women, and stepped'
into his hansom, and told the driver to
go to the club.
"That detective of yours," he said
calmly, as he produced his treasures
from . the bottom of the hansom, "will
probably be around here when he gets
his nose patched up- . In the mean while
1 will ask you .to value these articles
roughly and ring for some messenger
boys."
An , authority said the lot was worth
$700, and tho separate exhibits were
promptly returned to where they be
longed by messenger boys, who were in
structed to leave them at the. door and
run. Tho detective was pacified by
some of the club's Vest brandy and a
twenty dollar bilL But .whenever Van
Bibber enters the club now the men
feel nervously for their watches and the
waiters count the forks. New York
Sun. ,
Christmas Figuring.
Biffers I'm a pretty good hand at
figures, but there a one thing I can t un
derstand about Christmas.
Wiff era What's that?
Biffers How is it that everybody
gives more than he gets, and yet nobody
gets as much as he gives? Hang me if 1
; can' see what becomes of the surplus!
' New York Weekly. . -
Explicit.
TTasperated Property Owner (to organ
grinder) W hat II you take to clear out?
. Orgad '"viuder (coolly) Me takka me
time. Epoch.
ON AN OSTRICH FARM.
AN AFRICAN INDUSTRY TRANSPLANT
ED TO CALIFORNIA.
Ostriches Are Proittstble Minis to Raise.
Something About the Unfitness Popu- .
lar Superstitions Exploded Hatched
. by Means of Incubators.
There are at least half a dozen ostrich
farms in southern California. They have
ceased to be a curiosity there, and each
now represents a commercial enterprise.
Americans, bny one-half the millions of
ostrich feathers 'produced annually. . It
is estimated that this country expends
$3,000,000 a "year for these ornaments.
Each ostrich when full grown yields a
feather income of from $200 to $300 per
annum. The elegant, long black and
white plumes sell for $3 each at the farms,
and readily, bring $10 each at retail in
New York or Chicago.
Every feather has a value. If it is
sufficiently large for use it is worth at
least 10 cents. The very small ones,
otherwise useless, mak6 up into cheap
souvenirs and are eagerly purchased by
visiting tourists at prices varying from
10 cents to $1. The plumes produced in
southern California are fully as valuable
as those from the far away Cape Colony.
The eggs, 'if fertile, sell for $25 each,
and generally from 75 to 80 per cent, of
all eggs produced will hatch. If not fer
tile the shells are. in demand at from $3
to $3 each as curios and ornaments. - A
young ostrich just out of the shell is con
sidered equivalent to $50, and his value
increases until he is' full grown, when
$500 is a low market price.
The expense of maintaining an ostrich
farm is comparatively slight. The birds
in this country are usually healthy.
Their appetites are appalling, but they :
are satisfied with alfalfa, cabbage and
crushed bones for a regular diet. On
occasions they expect large and small
pebbles, bits of iron, old shoes, tin cans
and such delicacies. A hungry ostrich
is not particular about his food. It is
merely a question of deglutition with
him. If what he eats will go down or
rather up his somewhat elastic throat
(for he eats and drinks head downward),
he feels safe to trust his digestive organs
to oo tne rest.
The ostrich has long been maligned.
In our schoolboy days natural history
taught us to despise the ostrich, first, be
cause of its lack of sense, and second, for
its want of parental instincts. We were
told that this great, ungainly bird, when
chased by a native South African upon
tne bacK of a fleet horse or a tame os
trich, would hide his weary head in the
sand, under the impression - that if he
could not see his pursuer the pursuer
could not see him. This fable is no more
true, at least of the domesticated bird,
than the other, which actually says that
the mother ostrich lays her eggs in the
hot sand and leaves them to the tender
care of the sun and the Hottentot.
The ostrich egg shell is sometimes one-
sixteenth of an inch thick. It is fully
twenty-four times the size of an ordinary
hen's egg. Incubation requires forty
days, during which period the male and
female alternate in the domestic duty of
keeping the eggs warm. Most of the
hatching is now done by incubators. A
800 egg incubator has a capacity for but
27 ostrich eggs.
At the farm near Santa Monica I saw
the birds on the nest, however, and the
young ostriches after they were removed
from the nest. The eggs at this Bit
ting nearly all hatched, and as I visited
the farm frequently I grew very much
interested in both parents and children.
The nest consisted of a pile of sand in the
center of the field assigned to the two
breeders. The male bird manifested the
utmost interest in the business in hand,
and devoted more than fifteen hours a
day to the maternal duty of sitting on
the eggs. -
When his mate was on the nest he
would shield her from the excessive heat
of that semi-tropical sun by extending
his ample wings over her. The two os
triches were models of parental affection.
The exemplary conduct of the mala
specially won my admiration, for he was
ever on the alert to render assistance to
his patient spouse, and when the little
fellows pecked their way through the
hard shell he kept vigilant watch over
them. The old story of neglect of its
offspring is clearly disproved. There
are no feathered animals more dutiful.
The old birds are not awkward, but
the young ones have no sense whatever,
and so it is necessary to remove the lat
ter as soon as possible after they escape
from the shell to prevent them from
wandering into danger. It requires
skillful coaxing and no little maneuver
ing to entice the fond parents from the
nest, but this accomplished the young
ostriches are transferred to a sand box in
the sun, where they must have close at
tention all day long to keep them from
mishaps which their, utter lack of dis
cretion and extreme awkwardness would
certainly bring upon them. ' .
At night they are- placed in an incu
bator.' Until they are several months
old the absurdly heedless and tender
things require very great care. After
they pass from infancy, however, they
generally thrive. The losses , usually oc
cur within the first month.
When the birds are seven months old
the first plucking occurs, and from that
time forward they give up their feathers
twice a year. The females begin laying
eggs at three years of age, and produce
from thirty to ninety eggs each an
nually. . ' .
In South Africa, until about thirty
years ago, the natives killed the ostrich
for his plumes. Since tjiat ' date . the
domesticated bird3 have f uruibhed moat
"of the feathers of commerce.
Each bird ' when fully grown has
twenty-five plumes on each wing, with
two rows of floss feathers underneath.
Above the white plumes are a row of
long feathers And under them are a
smaller size. In the male these are
black and in the female drab. The tail
has also a tuft of feathers similarly ar
ranged. The first feathers are not
usually as fine in quality, as large in
size or as great in quantity as those of
subsequent plnckinge. Cor.' Chicago
News.
J. M. HUNTJNGTON & CO.
flbstFaeters,
Real Estate and
Insurance Agents.
Abstracts of. and Information Concern
ingJLand Titles' on Short Notice. -
Land for Sale and Houses to Rent
-. Parties Looking for Homes in
COUNTRY OR CITY,
OR IN SEARCH OF .
Bngiqe Location?,
' Should Call on or Write to us.
Agents for a Full Line of -
LeaiiiiFire Insnrancs Companies,
And Will Write Insurance for
on all
IDESIBABIiE lESISICS.
Correspondence Solicited. . All Letters
Promptly Answered. Call on or
Addreee,
J. M. HUNTINGTON & CO.
Opera Houee Block, The Dalles, Or.
JAMES WHITE,
' Has Opened a
Liinoli ; Counter,
In Connection With his Fruit Stand
and Will Serve ;
Hot Coffee, Ham Sandwich Pigs' Feet,
s and Fredr Oysters.
Convenient to the Passenger
Depot.
On Second St., near corner of Madison.
Also a -
Branch Bakery ...California
Orange Cider, and the
Best Apple Cider.
If you want a good lunch, give me a call.
Open all Night :,' .
C. N. THORNBCRY, T. A. HDDSON,
1MB nee. u. u. Laaa Omee. Notary Public.
TliPURUPDSOH,
ROOMS 8 and 9 LAND OFFICE BUILDING,
roitomee Eox sij, -
THE DALLES, OR.
pilings, Contests,
And all other Business in the U. S. Land Office
Promptly Attended to. ,
We have ordered Blanks for Filings,
Entries and the purchase of Railroad
Lands under the recent Forfeiture Act,
which we will have, and advise the pub
lic at tne earliest date when such entries
can be made. Look for advertisement
in this paper.
Thornburv & Hudson.
Health is Wealth !
' Dr. E. C. Wkrt's Neeti anb Brain Tkkat
mbnt, a guaranteed specific for Hysteria, Dizzi
ness,. Convulsions, Fits,. Nervous Neuralgia,
Headache, Nervous Prostration caused by the use
o alcohol or tobacco. Wakefulness, Mental De
pression, Softening of the Brain, resulting in in
sanity aud leading to misery, decay and death,
Premature Old Age, Barrenness, Loss of Power
in either sex, Involuntary Losses and Spermat
orrhoea caused by over exertion of the brain, self
abuse or over indulgence. Each box contains
one month's treatment. $1.00 a box, or six boxes
for 15.00, sent by mail prepaid on receipt of price.
WE GUARANTEE SIX BOXES
To cure any case. With each order received by
us for six boxes, accompanied by $5.00, we will
send the purchaser our written guarantee to re
fund the money if the treatment does not effect
s cure. Guarantees Issued only by
BIjAKEIjEY & HOUOHTON,
Prescription Druggists,
175 Second SU ' 1 The Dalles, Or.
Opera " Exchange,
No. 114 Washington 8 tree t.
BILLS 4 WEYERS, Proprietors.
The Best of Wines, Liquors and Cigars
ALWATS ON SALE.
Thpv will aim to BUDTilv their customers with
the beet in their line, both of m ported and do
"vVl. , BRAIN
mestic goods. ..
The Dalles
is here and has come to stay. It hopes
to win its way to public favor by ener
gy, industry and merit; and to this end
we ask that you give it a fair trial, and
if satisfied with its course a generous
support.
The
tour pages ot six columns each, will be
issued every evening, except Sunday,
and will be delivered in the city, or sent
by mail for the moderate sum of fifty
cents a month.
Its Objects
will be to advertise the resources of the
city, and adjacent country, to assist in
developing our industries, in extending
and opening up new channels for our
trade, in securing an open riverj and in
helping THE DALLES to take her prop
er position as the
Leading City of Eastern Oregon, j
The paper, both daily and weekly, will
be independent in
criticism of political matters, as in its
handling of local affairs, it will be
JUST. FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
"We will endeavor to give all the lo
cal news, and we ask that your criticism
of our object and course, be formed from
the contents of the paper, and not from
rash assertions of outside parties.
For the benefit of our advertisers we
shall print the first issue about 2,000
copies for free distribution, and shall
print from time to time extra editions,
so that the paper will reach every citi
zen of Wasco and adj acent counties.
THE WEEKLY,
sent to any address for $1.50 per year.
It will contain from four to six eight
column pages, and we shall endeavor
to make it the equal of the best. Ask
your Postmaster for a copy, or address.
THE CHRONICLE PUB. COf
Office. N. W. Cor. Washington and Second Sts.
Daily
politics, and in its